West Texas
Intermediate oil was little changed following a 1.5 percent tumble on Feb. 15,
the biggest drop in two weeks. Saudi
Arabia is likely to cut exports further this
year, a BP Plc economist said.
New York crude declined as much as 0.4 percent before rebounding, while Brent
crude was little changed in London.
There’s no scarcity of supply and Saudi Arabia
will probably reduce exports further, depending on the actions of other OPEC
members, BP Chief Economist Christof Ruehl said in an interview in London today. Brent’s
premium to WTI widened. Data from the Federal Reserve showed U.S. industrial
production shrank unexpectedly in January.
Crude for
March delivery traded in a range of $95,45
– 95,99 a
barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Floor trading
in New York will be closed today for the U.S.
Presidents’ Day holiday. Electronic trading will cease at 1:15 p.m. Eastern
time, resuming at 6 p.m.
Brent oil
for April settlement on the ICE Futures Europe exchange was down 6 cents at
$117.60 a barrel, with trading volume 65 percent below the 100-day average. The
European benchmark crude was at a premium of $21.38 to WTI, versus $21.25 on Feb.
15. The gap had expanded to $23.18 on Feb. 8, the widest since Nov. 26.
